Got veggies? Got a blender? Got a dehydrator (or possibly an oven on low temp, but I haven't tried that)? You too can have Paleo Skittles and taste the (real food) rainbow.

Right now, Tropical Traditions is having a sale on their coconut cream concentrate (which is the coconut butter I typically use), buy one get one free! 2 quarts for the price of 1. That's a fantastic deal and it's a great time to stock up so you can make your Paleo Skittles!

Where did this idea come from? Target sells happycreamies veggie and fruit snacks, which are melt-in-your-mouth (like the yogurt melt thingies) freeze-dried “drops.” While home freeze-drying isn't really easily accessible, using a dehydrator can make similarly delicious, although differently-textured, snacks.

My friend Heather texted me one day to tell me she had “done it.” She blended up sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and some fruits and veggies. Then she dehydrated it in little blobs, and her daughter happily gobbled them all.

Inspired by Heather, I whipped up a batch a few days later. Of course they weren't just like happycreamies, but that doesn't matter.

While the melty texture of the happycreamies is novel and fun, what our kiddos really crave is good foods that will make their bodies healthy and strong. And poppable drops makes them easy to store, transport, and snack on.

Because these are dried, they can be stored at room temperature for quite some time before going bad. I have a baggie of them in my purse, one in the car, and so forth. They're as convenient as raisins, without all of the sugar (natural sugar is still sugar).

The first “skittles” I made were the orange ones. I called them “Sweet Potato Sunshines” and the kids ate them as quickly as I could make them. After a couple of batches, I decided to try a green one. I really wanted to incorporate spinach into the mix, a veggie my kids like the flavor of but don't eat in any notable quantity on a regular basis yet.

And once I had orange and green, I thought to myself, “Self, there are SO many good veggies and fruits out there… a whole rainbow of them! Wouldn't it be fun to make snacks in every color?”

Besides the fun factor, if my kids were eating a rainbow confetti of these snacks, I would know they were getting a good variety of fruits and veggies with every snack, which is more useful to our bodies in general than eating only carrots for a week, then only beets for a week, and so forth. I also made them a bit more sustaining (and gave them a chewier texture) by adding fat to each one. Most flavors have coconut cream concentrate in them, while the green ones have avocado for added fat.

So my dehydrator was pretty much running constantly for aaages. Each color batch made about 4-5 trays worth of drops, so in my 9-tray Excalibur Dehydrator, I could do two colors at a time.

I had a couple of failed batches (ugly snacks when I tried to get fancy with the shapes, or just not quite right flavor), and some days I didn't have time to get a batch in the dehydrator in the morning, so it took me a couple of weeks to get all of the colors finished.

But it was worth it all to be able to give these snacks to my kiddos AND to share them with you! The lemon-honey yellow ones are my favorites, and the kids love the beet-cherry flavor the best (those are gone first when I give them a container full). But they're all happily gobbled on a regular basis around here.

Soooo… are you ready for the recipes?

Every recipe has the same procedures.

Combine all ingredients in your blender and puree until smooth.

Then make little blobs on fruit leather sheets on your dehydrator trays (parchment paper works great if you don't have the commercial ones). I used a quart size ziplock freezer bag (do NOT use the regular sandwich ones… they will pop) with a Wilton piping tip in it.

Place the trays back into the dehydrator and dry at 130 degrees or so for about 4 hours.

Flip the skittles over and dry for an additional couple of hours until they reach the consistency you want. (Less drying = chewier. More drying = crunchier.)

Let cool 10 minutes before storing.

Tip: If you bake a bunch of white and orange sweet potatoes in the oven at once, you can put them in the fridge until you're ready to make the snacks.

1 – Maroon Paleo dehydrator snacks

2 cups white sweet potato, cooked

1.5 cups blackberries

1 cup raspberries

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup coconut butter

2 – Pink Paleo dehydrator snacks

2 cups white sweet potato, cooked

1 cup raspberries

2 cups strawberries

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup coconut butter

3 – Orange Paleo dehydrator snacks

2 cups orange sweet potato, cooked

1 cup carrots, chopped (raw)

2 oranges, peeled and seeds removed

1/4 cup coconut butter

4 – Yellow paleo dehydrator snacks

1 cup white sweet potato, cooked

2 cups parsnips, chopped (raw)

zest from one lemon

1 lemon, peeled and seeds removed

1/4 cup coconut butter

1 Tbsp honey (optional)

5 – Green Paleo dehydrator snacks

2 cups white sweet potato, cooked

1 cup raw spinach, packed

2 pears, cored

2 kiwis, peeled

1 cup fresh or frozen peas (NOT canned)

1 avocado, peeled and seed removed

6 – Indigo Paleo dehydrator snacks

2 cups white sweet potatoes, cooked

1 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup coconut butter

7 – Burgundy (almost Black!) Paleo dehydrator snacks

1 cup orange sweet potato, cooked

2 medium beets, peeled and chopped (raw)

1 cup cherries, pitted

1/4 cup coconut butter

You don't have to make all 7 colors/flavors right away. Pick a few of your favorite-sounding combinations and give them a try! You can always add more later, and make up your own combinations too.

What flavor do you think your kids will enjoy the most? Would this be a snack you think you would eat too?

Right now, Tropical Traditions is having a sale on their coconut cream concentrate (which is the coconut butter I typically use, though sometimes I do use the Artisana linked above), buy one get one free! 2 quarts for the price of 1. That's a fantastic deal and it's a great time to stock up so you can make your Paleo Skittles!

147 Comments

Nicole
Mar 22, 2015 @
11:52:07

If I do this with a regular fruit/veggie smoothie base including the sweet potato for thickness and the avocado to replace the coconut butter, should I still put in the lemon juice or is that not needed

So I’m actually a teenager who has gastritus and have had to go through that horrible transition of getting rid of bad food. I ate on the healthy side mainly but after this I’ve had to go completely healthy/organic/raw food. One of my favorite junk foods: skittles. I know these won’t taste like skittles but I’m hoping they can at least help me through the transition. My mom bought me a dehydrator so I could make my own vegetable chips and I’ve even got my friends at school hooked on them (and I don’t even add salt it’s all raw vegetables). But anyway I was hoping you could help me out with a tweak in the recipe. I absolutely loathe anything to do squash. And white sweet potatoes are not in the midwest (from what I can find. I’ve checked the few organic stores we have: Whole Foods and Hyvee organic section). Is there anything different that could be used instead of white sweet potatoes or squash?

Hmmm… maybe use regular white potatoes, and add a touch of honey if you want the sweetness? I hate that white sweet potatoes are so hard to find in so much of the country! I didn’t know they existed until I lived in California!

I can’t wait to make these, I’m obsessed with snacking and love new inventions. I was just wondering If I could use coconut oil instead, we really dislike the taste of coconut so we have the flavorless oil. would that still work the same?

These are Brilliant!!! We’re on GAPS, so I tried squash instead of the sweet potato. (We also used pastured butter rather than coconut, but I doubt that makes a differenc? And added Great Lakes Collagen.) They turned out Delicious… but flat. In one batch (raspberry/strawberry) I used our yogurt for my fat, so I only dried them at 115 (to keep the probiotics.) Above you mentioned using more potato for stouter shapes, do you think that would be a solution for my batches’ flatness or do you think the temp difference (or butter?!) could be to blame? Thanks to your help and such an awwwwesome concept!!!

Yes, I think it’s a mixture of those… maybe cook the squash a bit more to release steam and get rid of some of the moisture so it won’t be as thin. Also, keep in mind that coconut butter is I think about 70% fat and 30% fiber, so if you use butter, you’ll want to use less of it and add more fibers veggies to the mix. Or throw in some dried coconut along with the butter, unless you’re avoiding coconut.

I just put the orange/carrot/sweet potato ones in the dehydrator..i added a little vanilla, sea salt and dates..it tasted so yummy..i also used my food processor and did a double batch and it filled my eleven cup processor to the brim!!

Wow..those are amazing..i can’t wait to make the next batch. looks like my excalibur will be running nonstop now for awhile as i am making them for my 2 year old twin grandsons..thankyou so much for this recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok this is probably a dumb question but where do you find a white sweet potato? I’ve never seen one I don’t think. If I have, then I guess I didn’t know lol are they just called white sweet potato? And do you find them at any grocery? Thanks!

It’s NOT a dumb question! Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they’re super hard to find on the east coast. They’re in every grocery store on the west coast, and I’m not sure about the rest of the United States.
So weird, right?
I just found some (I’m in Maryland right now) at our Amish market, and was SO EXCITED. I’m not sure why they aren’t in most groceries out here. Where are you located, Lindsay?

This is such a great idea! I know I always struggle trying to find paleo snacks that are easy and convenient to take along with me. People will say bring fruit or veggies, but you kind of get sick of carrying a bunch of fruit that goes to waste once you forget it in your purse. For a week. Plus this will give me a good excuse to use the Vitamix.

Hi Emily! I am new to your site, not one but TWO of my formed passed this recipe along to me…they knew I would love it and they wanted me to do all the work for their enjoyment!

I made my first batch today with my friend, the orange/sweetpotato/carrot one and we are swooning! We zested the oranges for extra oomph, and added some stevia to assure kid approval, but we had a blast making them. Not hard at all, and so much fun! I love how these idea showcase the amazing natural colors in our foods, so beautiful! Thanks so much, we are excited to play around with more variations.

You’ve got some great friends! Hehe.
But seriously, I’m so glad you actually gave it a try. Adding the zest and a bit of stevia sounds like a great plan, and I’m so glad you’re all enjoying it. Let me know if you come across any other awesome combos!

It might! It will have a different color than the white sweet potatoes end up with, of course, but the parsnips in the yellow one worked really well…maybe make it a bit parsnip-heavy and if you need to keep the white “base” color.

Otherwise, start with the orange flavor. I bet that would be perfect with butternut instead of the sweet potatoes. Please let me know how it goes!

It might! It will have a different color than the white sweet potatoes end up with, of course, but the parsnips in the yellow one worked really well…maybe make it a bit parsnip-heavy and if you need to keep the white “base” color.

Otherwise, start with the orange flavor. I bet that would be perfect with butternut instead of the sweet potatoes. Please let me know how it goes!

It’s the biggest star-shaped one, whatever that was… sorry I don’t know all of the fancy names. It really doesn’t matter what tip, as long as it’s a big enough hole. And I THINK all tips fit any bag, but the screw-on dealie is specific to each company. I could be wrong though… I just use a freezer bag as my piping bag.

Ok, seriously… mind BLOWN. It’s funny, I don’t really like skittles (or any non chocolate candy), but I LOVE any way to get more fruits and veggies into my diet. It’s pretty much a chewy green smoothie! I’m especially looking for a way to get beets into my diet (I HATE them with a passion). Does the orange flavor really come through on the orange ones? Is there a healthy way to make them sour? I will steal a few sour skittles from friends if they’re eating them lol. What about other flavors? Lemon?

Those look so cool! For some reason this seems more fun than fruit leather (and our Excalibur hasn’t gotten enough use yet because I haven’t had the time/energy/inclination to experiment with it). My kids would enjoy these.

Another option to cook the sweet potato, for those who wondered, is a pressure cooker.

Love this post! I can’t wait to try them! My family has multiple allergies, and it is very hard to make treats that accommodates all of their restrictions. These recipes will give us quite a variety to enjoy. Thanks for your experimentation and pretty pictures!

It’s like peanut butter, but made out of coconut instead of peanuts. It has all the flesh and oil all blended up into a creamy thingy… coconut oil has none of the coconut “meat” in it. It’s also called coconut butter sometimes.

Any thoughts on how I can add a little bit of protein to these without compromising the texture? I’m thinking the gelatin might be just enough to round them out well. I’d love to give some of these to my sister in law and my friend for their little ones, especially when they aren’t well (like now) and not eating a good variety of foods – I love that they have the carbs and the fat. A touch of protein would make these perfect snacks for toddlers who are go go going even when they aren’t feeling great.

I am sooo inspired about this. I just made two batches! I worked with what I had at home though so I made a blueberry/lemon/honey one with a bit of lucuma powder and a pineapple/orange/yellow carrot/yellow beet flavor! I can’t wait to try them and make more! I’m inspired to try a chocolate with green superfood powder and a vanilla/white chocolate flavor too! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

Do you have any suggestions when it comes to using your oven as your dehydrator? I love this idea but simply do not have the room for yet another appliance in my already overly loaded kitchen I have to cook for gluten intolerance and these sound heavenly with my upcoming diet too!

use the lowest temperature your oven will allow, and some people will prop open the oven door just a tiny bit. If your oven has convection settings, that would be good for air flow, but otherwise you have to keep in mind that a dehydrator has a fan, while ovens don’t circulate the air AS MUCH, you know? But you can definitely use an oven … it might just take a different amount of time though.

You can bake it in the oven or steam it in the microwave… if I’m doing a bunch I’ll do them in the oven.
If you have a toaster oven, you can use that for one or two… but we got rid of ours, so I just do them in the microwave if I’m only making a couple.

I am going to try making these with Coconut Oil because I was shocked to see how many Calories the Butter has in comparison. Over 300 in just a tsp vs half as much for a TBSP of the oil. One batch will be over 3,000 calories just from the butter alone. Did anyone else try the oil route yet?

This is genius, thanks for all the good info. Wish I had the Vitamix!
I tried to subscribe by e-mail and it says I’m missing the fields for First Name, Last Name but there is only a space to enter my e-mail address. Hope you can get that fixed, I’d love to learn more tips from you. Have a good day.

These aren’t really meant to be candy… they’re meant to be food. Fun colorful tasty snacks that still provide a lot of nutrients – and yes, fat. My family eats a VERY high-fat diet and we don’t worry about calories, and somehow we aren’t all a billion pounds so that really isn’t a concern I have.

But Denise, I would try a nut butter if you’re not allergic to that – maybe cashew butter would work well (and since it’s very light colored like coconut butter is, it wouldn’t affect the appearance so much) or even ghee might work.

Has anyone tried them without the lemon juice? We have a citrus allergy in this house. Has anyone adjusted the recipies to because of food allergies? Can you us something other than coconut butter here it is $12+ a jar.

I can’t wait to try these. I am thinking these would be a great snack for my husband , whom is a truck driver and likes to snack while driving and of course me and my 12 yr old will enjoy them also. Thank you for sharing .

Lauren, I’d try something else with fat … that’s the main purpose of the coconut butter in this recipe. Without the fat, these tend to dry rock hard and be not so pleasant to eat. So I’d try another nut butter if you can, like cashew butter (light in color so it wouldn’t affect the appearance much) or ghee.

You’d need to use less coconut oil, but yes… the main purpose of the coconut butter in this recipe is for the fat content. Coconut butter is all of the coconut “meat” ground up into a creamy texture (as the oil releases) just like peanut butter or almond butter, but coconut instead. Coconut oil is ONLY the fat from the coconut, so none of the fiber. It’s up to you… if you decide to try it, I’d use half or so of the amount.

These look absolutely fabulous! One question though. Is there a fat you can recommend to substitute for the coconut? My little one can’t have anything in the tree nut/coconut/peanut categories. I’m thinking I could use avocado in the darker varieties or if I didn’t really care about getting all the colors right…any ideas to keep the colors true though?

These look absolutely fantastic and so fun for little ones to eat! Can anyone recommend a fat that might work other than coconut? My little one can’t have any foods in the coconut or tree nut/peanut category. Maybe butter???

A lot of people are asking this without much reply. Any way to actually cut down on the fat instead of just using a different fat. I did some number crunching and a batch of the maroon ones have about 900 calories and 40 grams of fat. Too much for me!

As I mentioned in another comment, my family doesn’t worry about fat content (except to prioritize it as a source of energy, as long as it’s from good sources) or calorie count at ALL. If that’s a concern of yours, you’re probably right that these aren’t just for you. (But you also would NOT eat an entire batch in one sitting.)

I am so hooked on these!!! My first batch turned out tiny, because I didn’t account for shrinkage in the dehydrating process, but my second and third batches turned out beautifully. These are so delicious and we have been gobbling them up as fast as I can make them!

One little piece of advice to anyone trying these: don’t do what I did the first time and make the puree the night before, planning to make them in the morning. The coconut butter gets really, really hard overnight in the fridge and softening it again changes the texture for some reason. Better to make the puree and then make them immediately!

I used a frosting piping tip to get the cute shapes.
You can make coconut cream concentrate / coconut butter if you have a high speed blender and dehydrated (not sweetened) coconut. Just blend it up until the oil releases and suddenly it’s smooth.

Do you think these would work with butternut squash instead of the sweet potato? I have a friend who follows SCD for colitis and can’t eat sweet potato, but can have squash. I think these would be a fun gift.

Update: made these in the oven the other day! worked perfectly fine I set it to 170 (that’s as low as our oven goes) and let them “bake” for about 5 hours. For part of the time I let the oven door open a bit so that the moisture could escape. Oh, and I should also add that my skittles were TINY… They shrink quite a bit while drying, which I didn’t take into account… but they are still delicious! Next time, I will definitely make them a little bigger – which probably means another hour or two added to the drying time… We shall see!

Wow…you put some serious time into this! I’ve been thinking about this for a long time (along with homemade “puffs”) and I never had any time to put it into action in the kitchen, plus I don’t have a Vitamix (Although I’d give my left arm for one.) Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into such a fabulous post. I might try to do something similar with what I have. I KNOW they’d be a big hit!